Manufacturing Consent  (English, Paperback, Herman Edward S)

Manufacturing Consent is a book that provides the readers with key insights into reporting in news media.

Summary Of The Book

Manufacturing Consent is geared towards enlightening the readers on the practices in news media. The authors explain that editorial distortion is worsened due to the reliance of news media on governmental sources of news. They also tell the readers that a magazine or any form of media may be prevented from gaining information, if they publish any information that attracts negative reactions from the government.

This results in the news media organization losing their grip over their viewers or readers, which in turn decreases their advertisers. Keeping these dire consequences in mind, the editorial boards of news media businesses twist their reports to favor the government, with the sole objective of sustaining themselves in the market. Through the course of this book, the readers are provided with insights into five editorially distorting filers that are utilized in news reporting these days.

They also tell the readers that major media outlets make most of their revenue from advertising. Hence, they need to function according to the political biases of their advertisers. The readers are also enlightened on the subject of flak and the damage it can trigger to the media outlets’ reputation, legal defense expenses, and decrease in advertising revenue. The authors have also touched on the topic of anti-communism, which Chomsky believes, is now replaced by the “War on Terror”, as the primary mechanism for social control.

Manufacturing Consent has also been adapted into a documentary film by the same name, directed by Peter Wintonick and Mark Achbar.

About The Authors

Edward S. Herman is an author, media analyst, and economist.

Herman has also written The Myth of The Liberal Media: An Edward Herman Reader, Principles and Practices of Money and Banking, and Counter-Revolutionary Violence - Bloodbaths in Fact & Propaganda.

Herman was born on 7th April, 1925. He completed his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and then went on to earn his doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He currently serves as the Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Herman also teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.
Noam Chomsky is an author, linguist, cognitive scientist, logician, and philosopher.

Chomsky has also written Essays on Form and Interpretation, Language and the Study of Mind, and Rules and Representations.

Chomsky was born on 7th December, 1928, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed his B.A., M.A., and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as the Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is often referred to as the “father of modern linguistics”.